: Re: Quoting Song Lyrics or Naming a Song, Or Possibly Group/Singer Can you quote music lyrics in a book? Like this: Stuck in traffic, main character is blasting Rage Against the Machine, Testify

@Sue2132873

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This sounds like an issue of fair use. For example naming the song should be fine especially as you are not saying anything bad about it and as titles are not subject to copyright (trademark might be a different issue if you, say, called your book by the song's title). The tricky part comes when you start citing lyrics. A few is okay sometimes depending on context but all of them is massively unlikely to be considered fair. The cut of point is... somewhere.

The general advice is that if in doubt ask the copyright holder for permission.

I found an article on the subject that might be of interest: www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/questions-and-quandaries/legal-questions/can-i-use-song-lyrics-in-my-manuscript

It should go without saying that I am not a law expert.

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